Glitter & Gravel
by Saturnian Sorceress
Summary: Glimpses into the relationship between Effie Trinket and Haymitch Abernathy.
1. Nails

As he took a swig from the drink situated in his hand, Haymitch Abernathy's cool gray eyes studied the woman sitting primly across from him. Effie Trinket was expertly shaping her nails with her bright pink, bejeweled file, so engrossed in the task that she seemingly did not even notice Haymitch's steely gaze upon her.

The District 12 escort's nails were fairly long, painted sea foam green and accented with silver glitter and glimmering gemstones, all of which were worked into intricate designs. Haymitch couldn't help but roll his eyes at the frivolity of it all. For several minutes he silently watched the young woman fuss over chipped polish and subpar gemstone sparkle, ignoring the tightening in his chest as her eyes finally raised and met his.

"Honestly, have you no manners? Don't you know it's rude to stare?"

"Why Effie, I thought you knew I was raised in a barn; no need for your precious manners there. 'Sides you didn't seem to mind my manners last night."

The pink nail file froze mid-swipe on a sea foam green nail.

He was baiting her. The subtle almost imperceptible twitch of Effie's eye told Haymitch that she knew what he was playing at and that she was not amused. Flashes of the prior night danced behind her eyes—_rough stubble scratching her neck, backs arching, long, red nail marks leaving a trail down a muscled back—_and with some effort she suppressed the sigh that threatened to escape her.

Refusing to let Haymitch see that he'd gotten a reaction out of her (although judging by the smirk that was gracing his features he already knew), Effie made sure that his eyes were trained on her as she reached for her diamond encrusted clutch. She placed her nail file in one of the pockets and rummaged through the small bag briefly, removing a small drawstring bag that Haymitch couldn't completely see before snapping the clutch closed.

Gracefully, Effie stood from the loveseat and sauntered over to Haymitch, who eyed her curiously. Stopping in front of him she gently grasped his hand, leaning in until she was inappropriately close to him; neither of them minded.

"Oh Mr. Abernathy, many years ago your quip may have made me irate, but now it just makes me want you more," Effie whispered, her breath tickling his ear.

She was up and at the door before Haymitch could even process her words.

"And dear, please do me a favor and take care of those scratch marks on your back. Wouldn't want them to get infected now would we!"

With a small smile Effie glided out the door, leaving Haymitch to stare after her wondering what the hell had just happened. Unclutching his fist, he realized that the sneaky woman had forced the little drawstring bag into his hand while he was…distracted. Untying the bag he removed a folded up piece of parchment, recognizing Effie's beautiful script immediately: _A Keepsake. Until next time- Eff. _

Emptying the bag into his palm Haymitch let out a gruff laugh when he saw what she had given him. Placing the glitter and gemstone covered sea foam green nail into his breast pocket, he downed the rest of his drink before heading towards the door.

'Next time' was waiting for him.


	2. Drinks

If Effie Trinket never saw another alcoholic drink again in her life it would be too soon.

Groaning as the pounding in her head seemed to increase, the petite woman rolled over in her plush bed, only to encounter a warm body lying next to her. Time froze. Her cerulean eyes widened in a mix of shock and horror as they took in the form of Haymitch Abernathy sleeping peacefully, hair tousled and lightly snoring.

With a start Effie shot out of bed letting out an undignified squeak as her body connected with the floor, her sheets tangling around her legs. Running a shaky hand through her honey colored hair (where was her wig?), Effie groaned internally when she noticed Haymitch was now awake and gazing at her through sleep-heavy eyes.

"What a way to wake up," Haymitch leered.

Feeling the heat rise to her cheeks, Effie quickly pulled the sheet she was wrapped in up to her chin in order to cover her naked body. Haymitch rolled his eyes at her display of modesty; it was not as if he hadn't seen all she had to offer before anyway. Reluctantly, he sat up fully, pushing away the small sliver of satin sheets that remained on his side of the bed.

He meandered over to the small liquor cabinet across the room, ignoring the feel of Effie's eyes drinking in the sight of his bare body from where she still sat on the floor. After rummaging around for a suitable glass and not finding anything to his liking, he swiped the most expensive alcohol he could find and drank straight from the bottle as he returned to the bed.

A heavy silence filled the room.

"What…what happened last night?"

A snort of disbelief, followed by, "I think it's pretty damn obvious what happened."

"I don't even remember anything really…just fragments. The loud music, the laughter, the dancing, those pink drinks Caesar kept giving me," Effie continued to ramble as she rose from the floor, sheet clutched tightly to her chest.

"For being so girly those drinks were damn strong. Damn good too."

Balancing precariously on the edge of her bed, (and really it was her bed so why did she feel so uncomfortable while Haymitch was sprawled out on her satin sheets, naked as the day he was born, drinking as if nothing was wrong with this entire situation?) Effie stifled a sob.

"Oh God," Haymitch groaned, "you're not really crying right now are you?"

"Don't start." The tone of Effie's voice left no room for argument.

An awkward silence befell the pair for several minutes.

"C'mon Ms. Trinket, it wasn't _that_ bad. From what I can remember, at least."

"That's not…that wasn't…the issue," Effie blushed.

Haymitch quirked an eyebrow, fiddling with the liquor bottle in hands. "Then what is the issue? Me?"

"You know better than that," she stated fiercely.

"Spit it out then."

"It's just…I'm not _this_ girl."

"Well," Haymitch drawled, taking a gulp of his drink, "I have no idea what you're going on about woman."

Effie sighed as she threw a glance at the man comfortably occupying her bed. Heedless of the possible awkwardness, she lay down next to him, reaching over to grab the bottle from his hand and took an unladylike drink.

"I am not some tramp, Haymitch. I don't have one-night stands," Effie mumbled. "This was so incredibly irresponsible and immature. I feel like I should be apologizing to you."

"Jeez woman, are you really wound that tight? It was just a night of sex brought on by a day of heavy drinking and unresolved sexual tension with yours truly. It doesn't have to be a big deal."

Angrily shoving the liquor bottle into Haymitch's chest, Effie loomed over him, gritting her teeth.

"Of course it's not a big deal to you. Nothing is." She moved to climb off of the bed, but he was too quick for her, latching onto her arm and pulling her flush against his side.

"Hey now, you don't know that," he murmured, reaching out to run his thumb over her bottom lip, smearing what little lipstick still graced it.

Effie jerked away from his surprisingly gentle touch; she would not show her weakness, show him what he did to her and how he made her feel. Eyes going cold, she met his gaze head on, making her features as stoic as possible before uttering, "I think it would be best for you to leave now."

She saw something flicker in his eyes as he processed her words, but she couldn't place what it was before it disappeared.

"Fine _Princess_, have it your way," Haymitch bit out. Grabbing his pants, shirt and shoes, he stormed out of the room without even a backwards glance at Effie.

As her bedroom door slammed shut behind him, Effie couldn't help but notice the painful, vice like grip that closed over her heart. Falling back against her satin pillows she curled into the fetal position, cocooning herself in her bedding, glaring at the bottle of liquor lying next to her on the pillow Haymitch had abandoned.

Screwing her eyes shut, Effie growled in frustration, trying in vain to suppress any and all emotions she felt towards her District 12 coworker. Peace of mind eluding her, she lunged for the bottle of alcohol, downing its remaining contents as quickly as she could.

If she couldn't turn off her thoughts and emotions, the alcohol certainly could.


	3. Babysitting

"I ain't being nice."

"_Haymitch_."

"I'm just tellin' you now so that you can't act like you didn't know later."

Exasperated, Effie rolled her eyes and chose to ignore her beau; she really wasn't in the mood to argue. Raising her hand to the cherry red door, she was poised to knock, but was interrupted before her hand could connect to the wood by a slightly frazzled Katniss Everdeen-Mellark.

"Good, you're here," Katniss deadpanned.

Leaving the door wide open, she made her way back into the spacious house and, as was custom by this point in the relationship between the two families, Haymitch and Effie invited themselves in.

Following a rambling Katniss, the pair made their way towards the kitchen, avoiding a few scattered children's toys and errant pieces of hunting gear as they went.

"—and of course, Peeta gave in and they had some sweets about twenty minutes ago, so all of that sugar should be hitting their bloodstreams soon."

"Please, like you could say no to either of them."

"I can."

"Mmmhmm," Peeta drawled, shooting a wink at Haymitch and Effie from where he was cleaning up the last of his children's dinner dishes from the table. "Hey guys, how're you?"

Haymitch snorted in response and Effie said a simple "Lovely Peeta, thank you for asking. And yourself?"

Peeta swept past his wife, bumping her hip with his, as he crossed the kitchen to plant a kiss on Effie's cheek.

"Never been better Ms. Trinket. A little tired maybe, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks for doing this by the way, Katniss and I really appreciate it."

"Oh, please," Effie lightly admonished him. "I just adore coming over and spending quality time with my perfect little niece and nephew."

"And they adore their playtime with Aunt Effie and Uncle Haymitch."

"So where are the little demons anyway?"

"_Haymitch_!"

"Upstairs washing up," Peeta responded without missing a beat.

"They'll be down any minute now," Katniss mumbled as she collected a light jacket and a picnic basket and balanced them on a stool. "Same rules as last time. They need to be in bed by eight, but they've been fed already and they bathed this morning. Peeta and I shouldn't be too long."

"Hey now, don't write off our anniversary picnic to be so short and sweet. You have no idea what I have in store for you," Peeta whispered into his wife's ear, his voice dropping huskily as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

The clearing of a throat brought the young lovers back to the present and they suddenly felt all of sixteen years of age again when Effie chastised them with an airy, "Manners. You have guests."

"Please," Haymitch smirked, "we ain't guest. We practically live here."

Before anyone could form a proper response, a thunderous noise burst forth from the staircase followed by giggling and shrieks of "Aunt Effie!" and "Uncle Haymitch!" The latter barely had time to brace himself before a small body had launched at him, latching skinny arms around his waist.

When the precious little girl gazed up at him, pigtails bouncing, Haymitch felt his heart melt (not that he'd ever admit that to anyone ever). Glancing over at Effie, who was fixing an equally adorable little boys' hair, he could tell that she was just as enamored with the Everdeen-Mellark children as he was.

"All right you two remember what we talked about," Peeta stated, kneeling down to his children's level to make sure that he now had their undivided attention. "You must listen to Uncle Haymitch and Aunt Effie. When they tell you it's bedtime, you go. No giving them a hard time. Understand?"

The wide-eyed children nodded enthusiastically.

"Nu-uh, I need to hear that you understand," Katniss interjected, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yes, Mommy!"

"Those are my good babies. Now, hugs and kisses. Daddy and I will see you in the morning."

After exchanging goodbyes and kisses, and leaving Effie and Haymitch a few more instructions, Katniss and Peeta grabbed their picnic basket and light jackets and went on their way.

And so began Effie and Haymitch's customary adventure in babysitting.

Arts and crafts projects were made, singing competitions held, cupcakes baked and decorated. To say that Effie Trinket was in her organizational element would have been an understatement. A half an hour before the Everdeen-Mellark children's bedtime found them curled up fast asleep on the couch in front of the fireplace with their Aunt and Uncle.

"You know something? For all of your bluff and thunder you are actually quite good at this," Effie whispered to the man next to her as she watched him stroke the little girls' now messy dark hair.

"Yeah," Haymitch whispered back with an air of disbelief. "Well, you ain't so bad yourself sweetheart."

"Looks like we're quite the team," Effie responded lightly, tucking a quilt blanket a little tighter around the small blonde boy whose head rested in her lap as he slept peacefully.

Lacing his free hand with hers, Haymitch lightly brushed his lips across her knuckles and grinned.

"Looks like."

* * *

**Thanks so much to my reviewers; I truly appreciate it! To all those story alerting and favoriting, I'd love to hear from you too! :)**


	4. Glitter

It was one of the first things that Haymitch had noticed about Effie when they had initially met all of those years ago; how a light shone from behind her eyes causing them to glitter. His favorite thing about the glitter was how it altered with the District 12 escort's mood. When Effie was happy, prattling on about the latest Capitol trend or party, the glitter behind her eyes caught like a sunbeam bringing out the warmth in the young woman's blue eyes; when she was angry, over a snarky remark from a tribute or from a particularly strong insult from Haymitch, the glitter gave off a dangerous glint, warning everyone in the vicinity to back off.

Sometimes the glitter behind her eyes helped Effie appear innocent and childlike, sometimes sexy and uninhibited and then there were times, like now, when the glitter transformed into tears of sadness.

Glittering trails of tears cut through Effie's heavy make-up as she tried valiantly to hold back her sobs, her eyes filled with pain. The pair had just witnessed the brutal death of their female tribute (Greta? Geraldine?...Haymtich couldn't recall if he ever knew the girls name) and their male tribute was quickly following in the same footsteps. It was only a matter of time before District 12 was eliminated from the competition yet again this year and Haymitch and Effie would have to deliver the bodies of their tributes back to their families.

Glaring contemptuously around the lavish room Haymitch screwed his eyes shut, running a hand over his face. The place was completely trashed (after a fit of rage on his part brought on by watching that little girl get eviscerated on television): shattered wine glasses littered the floor, stuffing from the couch and pillows filled the tiny nooks and crannies of the room, the dining room table was flipped over, plates and food scattered about.

But the most destroyed element of the room was Effie Trinket.

The sound of a cannon, followed by a strangled cry from Effie, brought Haymitch back to reality. Their final tribute was gone.

"Oh God, no," Effie mumbled through the tears, now glittering rivers down her cheeks. "No, no, no, no, no."

"Eff-"

"NO!" With a shriek Effie grabbed the vase of flowers sitting in front of her on the coffee table and threw it with all her might at the television. The television went crashing to the floor in a glorious display of broken metal, shards of glass and sparks.

"Jesus, woman!"

Reaching out to pull her away from the wreckage, Haymitch was surprised when Effie collapsed into his arms, clinging to him like a lifeline. Hesitating for only a moment, he wrapped his arms around her, all the while leading her to the couch. Once there he let her cry into his shoulder, smearing his shirt with her makeup and dampening it with her tears.

"It's so unfair," she whispered. "They were _children_."

"I know," he whispered back, brushing the tears from her cheeks. "I know."

It was then that Haymitch realized that the glitter that, in some way, shape or form, was always present in Effie's eyes had been extinguished. Pulling her into his lap, her head now nestled in the crook of his neck, Haymitch vowed to do everything in his power to bring the light back to Effie's eyes.

It was one of the first things that Haymitch had noticed about Effie when they had initially met all of those years ago; how a light shone from behind her eyes causing them to glitter. His favorite thing about the glitter was how resilient it was. Even in the darkest of times, he knew it remained, waiting for the opportunity to shine again.


	5. Gravel

A beam of sunlight streamed through the partial opening in the curtains causing the young blonde woman to groan lightly and shield her eyes with her arm. Inhaling and exhaling slowly, Effie Trinket made a concentrated effort to block out the painfully loud noises coming from the herd of geese congregating outside the bedroom window.

Suppressing a sigh Effie willed herself to go back to sleep. Several minutes of counting all of her pairs of shoes in her head made her drowsy and she could feel sleep beginning to envelope her; that's when she felt it, the light brushing of lips over her fingertips, slight stubble causing tiny goosebumps to break out over her skin.

"Mornin' darling," Haymitch drawled.

"Good morning love," Effie whispered.

She suppressed a shiver as Haymitch's ministrations moved from her fingers up her arm and to her shoulder. She cherished moments like this; just the two of them, no work, no responsibilities, free to lounge about and do as they pleased. She could hear him murmuring endearments, but couldn't concentrate on what he was saying; she was so distracted by the timber of his voice.

Effie would rather walk a runway in the Capitol in last season's cocktail dress than admit it out loud, but hearing Haymitch's voice as it was in these moments—needy and gravelly— made her insides melt and her brain short-circuit. Truly she didn't care what he was saying as long as she could revel in hearing his gravelly voice whispered roughly into her ear.

She could feel him grin as she released a positively unladylike moan while he lavished attention to the juncture where her neck and shoulder met.

"You like that Ms. Trinket?"

A startled yet pleasurable gasp was the only response Haymitch received as he sunk his teeth firmly into her neck. His hand traveled slowly, ghosting up Effie's leg until it disappeared beneath her much too expensive pink nightgown. Her breathing became shallow as she tried to keep some semblance of control under his talented hands, her own hands drifting between clutching her satin sheets and fluttering over his biceps.

"Mm, Haymitch, what about…what about…_God_…what about the geese?"

Haymitch froze his movements and trained his eyes on the woman now lying beneath him, flushed and covered with a slight sheen of sweat and looking _damn gorgeous_ if he did say so himself, trying to figure out if she was being serious or not.

"What now?"

Effie exhaled sharply, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her face, her voice coming out low and breathy, "Just, uh, the geese were being quite loud a bit ago. I think they may be waiting for their breakfast. It's slightly past their normal feeding time after all."

Haymitch squinted, "You fuckin' with me right now?"

"Language! And no, of course not, I am being serious. They are lovely animals that are relying on you for sustenance."

"Well," Haymitch began, sitting up, smirking as Effie unconsciously reached towards him at the lack of body contact, "I thought that making love to you all morning until you couldn't even move from the bed for the next couple of weeks would be a better way to start our day off, but I guess you're right, feeding the ducks _right now_ is much more important."

He made a move to get off the bed, but didn't even get his foot on the ground before Effie was straddling his waist with a squeaked out, "No!"

"'No' what darlin'?"

"Um, no actually I think the geese are quite okay for the moment. Listen, they aren't even making much noise anymore. Perhaps we should just let them frolic in the sunshine for a bit."

"So we can stay in bed, then? For the benefit of the geese," Haymitch smirked, eyes glittering in jest as his hands grasped at her hips.

"For the benefit of the geese," Effie smiled.

"Glad we're finally seein' eye to eye." Haymitch's gravelly voice was back; Effie bit her lip to keep in a moan.

With a final smirk, Haymitch lifted Effie up, delighting in her playful shriek of surprise, throwing her gently back on the bed and fusing their lips together. The couple eagerly picked up where they had left off and the geese outside of the bedroom window continued to chatter on long into the afternoon.


End file.
